At $100,000 per Ether (ETH), Ethereum would have a market value of around $12.1 trillion, with 36 million ETH staked representing $3.6 trillion in bonded capital. VanEck projected a bull-case price of $154,000 per ETH by 2030. Several factors could push ETH to $100,000, including institutional investments, onchain dollars, scaling upgrades, scarcity mechanics, macro conditions, and expectations.

At $100,000, small shifts in the Ethereum protocol translate into massive dollar flows to fund network security. The USD security budget equals ETH issued per year multiplied by ETH price, with issuance tied to the amount of ETH securing the network. As onchain activity grows, revenue streams increase, attracting more validators and tightening liquidity. Ethereum Improvement Proposal 1559 burns fees, impacting inflation vs. deflation balance.

For Ethereum to remain usable at $100,000, gas fees must remain affordable, ensuring transactions are cheap. Rollups help keep fees low on layer 2 while settling in ETH on Ethereum. The fee burn continues, sustaining demand and tightening supply. A combination of cheap L2s and L1/L2 value capture is crucial for maintaining a high valuation.

ETFs provide a steady bid, DeFi offers mechanical lift, stablecoins serve as the settlement layer, all supporting a six-figure valuation. However, second-order effects like volatility, regulatory scrutiny, and operational issues could derail the $100,000 target. Operator diversity, healthy exit queues, client diversity, and reliable oracles are essential for sustainability.

Read more at Cointelegraph: What Happens If Ethereum Hits $100,000?